Vote or die!
It’s Election Day, y’all! Time to get your civic duty on! Here are some races to keep an eye on:
From Political Wire:
1) the referendum on the anti-collective-bargaining law in Ohio, where polls close at 7:30 pm ET;
2) the governor’s race in Kentucky, where all polls close at 7:00 pm ET;
3) the governor’s race in Mississippi, where polls close at 8:00 pm ET;
4) the “personhood”/abortion amendment in Mississippi; and
5) the battle of control for the state Senate in Virginia, where polls close at 7:00 pm ET.
And this from Kay:
Maine has a citizen veto, too, today:
Question 1: People’s Veto
Do you want to reject the section of Chapter 399 of the Public Laws of 2011 that requires new voters to register to vote at least two business days prior to an election?
You’d want to REJECT that, I imagine. Good for Maine for using such plain language on their ballot. It’s almost like they want people to actually know what they’re voting on. That would be YES to REJECT on Question One.
Now, get out there and vote like a champ! (Or P.Diddy might motherfuckin’ kill you.)
You’re welcome.
[cross-posted at Angry Black Lady Chronicles]UPDATE: If there are races in your area that you’re following, let me know. If there are GOTV efforts that you’re taking part in and volunteers are needed, let me know that as well. Email me. Facebook me. Tweet me. Drop a comment at Balloon Juice. Dust off your old Texas Instruments Speak & Spell and convert it into some sort of telecommunications device. I’ll be updating this post throughout the day. Go Team! -ABLxx
5: 14 p.m.: Herman Cain sucked all the air out of the room with his press conference. For up-to-date election results, check TPM’s Scorecard. As of 5:15 PST, it looks like SB5 in Ohio is going down. It’s 67% no, 33 yes% (with only 1 percent reporting, so take that “going down” business with a grain of salt). Any news out there? Interesting stories I should highlight?
5:23 p.m. Here’s a funny anecdote from Steve:
Here is my Election Day story. Tell me if you can top this one.
We moved to a new neighborhood, so this is our first time voting at this location. The polling place is a church a few blocks from us.
It’s easiest for me to vote before work. The wife and I trundle off with our two little ones in tow. We see the church and there’s actually a pretty long line – odd for an off year. Last year at the old polling place there was barely anyone there.
We wait for about 45 minutes, chasing the kids around and trying to keep them from running into the street. We finally get to the front of the line, carry our stroller down the steps, and I go inside to vote. The woman at the little table asks for my ID, which puzzles me because I didn’t think ID was required here, but anyway I have it so I just give it to her. She hands me a piece of paper to fill out my name and address. I write my name and then I notice at the top of the page where it says something like “I hereby certify that I am eligible for these benefits.”
Yep, sure enough, that was the line for the soup kitchen. The polling place was another half-block down the street, and naturally there was no one at all in line. Oops.
So… was the soup any good? (No, I’m not serious.)
6:57 p.m. Just a little while ago, voters in Maine rejected the section of Chapter 399 of the Public Laws of 2011 that requires new voters to register to vote at least two business days prior to an election? So yay! Same day registration in Maine is safe.
Also, SB5 is going down. TPM has already called it. In yo face, Governor Kasich, you slimy sack of crap!
And so far, the “Eggs are People” amendment in Mississippi is going down as well. With 23% reporting, it’s 43% yes, 57% no. Keep it up, Mississippi! Eggs aren’t people! People are people! (And Soylent Green is obviously people, too.)
7:42 p.m. The Mississippi uterati were victorious — the Personhood Amendment failed. Also, Virginia elected a gay Democrat (cue wingnut brain explosion) (spoke too soon on that one) and Governor Steve Beshear won reelection in Kentucky. All is as it should be.
So say we all.
Martin
I have nothing to vote on. This is unsettling. CA used to have at least a ballot initiative election every month.
Glenda
Iowa has a special election for state senate in District 18 (in and around parts of Cedar Rapids) that if it goes to the Republican in the race, would mean that the Democrats would no longer have the majority in the Iowa State Senate. The polling done over the weekend shows the Democrat, Liz Mathis, up by 6% at 52-46. There is a GOTV effort going on, both door-to-door and by phone until the polls close at 9:00 CST tonight.
It’s not clear what losing the majority would mean, as the Senate leadership has already been set up with the Democratic majority from last year’s election. There may need to be some changes to allow for some kind of power sharing arrangement, but it isn’t clear exactly what will happen. The current majority leader in the Senate isn’t likely to give up much unless he absolutely has to.
TooManyJens
@Martin: It is weird to have nowhere to go today. We had an election in spring but nothing now.
I’m rooting for Ohio, etc.
Poopyman
I got nothing to vote on today either too. But as I said in an earlier thread I’ll be happy to come vote in your state if you cover the cost of gas. I’ll bring my dead relatives too. Weekend at Bernie’s has nothing on the Poopyman clan.
Mino
Charlie P. has a scathing one up on buyer’s remorse. Take heed.
JPL
Just city council in my area along with a few questions. One pertained to keeping the one cent sales tax for schools and the other buying liquor on Sunday. I had to vote yes for the liquor on Sunday because think of the jobs created because liquor stores could open on Sunday.
I had to remove my license and have it scanned. I did ask if next time I should bring my passport and birth certificate. The poll worker was not amused, although I did take the time to thank him for working.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
Athens-Clarke County Education SPLOST!
Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937
My wife is running for our county legislature. Many people are pissed when the current single party GOP legislature tried to sell the county nursing home. I give it a 50-50 chance. We’ll see tomorrow morning.
Legalize
Just got back from my polling place in a majority-minority precinct in Cincy. The place was full of voters in front of me and behind me; I had to wait about 10 minutes, which ain’t bad. It’ll be nice to shove this one in Fox News Employee, Kaisich’s face.
Poopyman
@Mino:
AMEN!
Citizen Alan
I’ll be heading to the polls here in Mississippi in just a few minutes to do what I can against the Talibangelists.
jibeaux
Well, I’ll give a shout out to District 3 Wake County, NC school board runoff, which unfortunately I can’t vote in.
This would be the school board that got taken over by carpet/tea baggers, bringing us such delightful publicity as being mocked by the Daily Show. We have also been featured on BJ. Election was last month, and in the most Republican district we managed to kick our brash nasty New Jersey Republican chairman back on outta there. But in another important district there was a three way race, and the good guy only got like 49.8% of the vote, so there’s a runoff today. Hoping like crazy for good news there, the turnout is reported to be high.
evap
Here in Hotlanta, we are voting on alcohol sales on Sunday, woo-hoo! I hope it passes… And the school funding thingy.. SPLOST? … I will vote for it, of course. All those suburbanites who venture into the city limits and spend money will help fund our schools!
Woodrowfan
voting is very light in northern VA, alas.
Yutsano
Watching as close as I can 1125 & 1183. May they both meet inglorious defeats.
Geoduck
To expand on Yutsano ‘s comment..
In Washington state we now vote entirely by mail, but we’ve got a couple of noxious Initiatives to (please please) shoot down, one funded by Costco to dismantle the state’s monopoly on hard liquor, and the yearly throat-slitting abomination from local menace-to-civilization Tim Eyeman. Let’s blow two MORE holes in the budget! Woot!
Comrade Rich
St. Paul, MN tries out ranked-choice voting today!
Of course, my city council member only drew one opponent, so I couldn’t really try out my shiny new franchise.
PurpleGirl
I’ve also posted this on an earlier post from Kay.
But posting here to cover all bases:
Kay — I just saw a posting at Suburban Guerrilla with a link to Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/ohio-issue-2-election-day-robocall_n_1081953.html
about a robocall received by an SEIU worker that the election is tomorrow. The call was sponsored by the American Future Fund.
The Rethuglicans are addicted to dirty tricks.
Lolis
I voted in Austin. I am paranoid they will try to knock me off the rolls if I don’t vote regularly. I read my precinct is the most Democratic in the country. There were 0 votes for John McCain in 2008.
The prophet Nostradumbass
There are two local measures on the ballot in my city, and I endorse the county Democratic Party positions about them (D and E).
ABL
@Martin: i was just thinking the same thing. i want to go vote for something, gottdammit. california sucks today.
ABL
@PurpleGirl: that was going to be my next post, but then i got distracted by news of michelle duggar’s clown car vagina.
geg6
@Mino:
Yup. I had to go have a cigarette after reading that one.
geg6
@efgoldman:
Yeah, that one was a thing of beauty, too.
Sir Nose'D
Ohio.
Voted No on 1
Voted F#%K No on 2
Voted GOD F#%K NO! on 3.
Thank goodness there was a levy renewal to vote on–otherwise I’d be the NO! man.
FlipYrWhig
Virginia statehouse elections today. We’ve gotten HEAPS of mail from the candidates and the phone rings off the hook. I’ve only been living here since 2005 but I’ve never seen _close_ to this level of activity around a local election.
ellie
My husband and I voted this morning in Toledo. No on #1,2, and 3. Voted straight Democratic for the city council and judges. And voted yes to renew the Zoo, Children Services, and the 911 levies.
PurpleGirl
@ABL: I was taking a break from typing to have lunch and surf the other sites I read and Susie had that post. So I figured the BJ community should see it.
geg6
All the big action is in Allegheny County, with the library funding referendum for city residents and picking a new county executive. It’s the New Democrat (Fitzgerald) v. the Rethuglican Outsourcer (Raja).
Here in Beaver County, for county commissioners, it’s a clown car filled with dimwits from both parties, equally. I thought about voting for the Independent for one of the commissioner’s seats, but found out recently that he worked for petroleum and natural gas companies until his retirement. Which means that he’s a stealth guy (I wondered where a retired guy was getting all the cash to run as an independent…now I know) for the drillers. Fuck that. I’m back to voting for both the Dems: one a complete idiot and the other a completely un-self aware complete idiot. Oh well, at least they are both from my town.
Neddie Jingo
@Woodrowfan:
Really? All the booths were full when I voted in Lovettsville at about 6:45 this morning. And the weather couldn’t be more pleasant.
I’m going to be handing out Dem sample ballots in Leesburg this evening until the polls close. I’ll be curious to see how many I give out.
Brad
There’s the recall election of AZ state senator and white supremacist Russell Pearce.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2011/08/02/20110802russell-pearce-recall-prog.html
His opponent isn’t great though (exec of a charter school accused of using public money to fund a private religious school).
Steve
Here is my Election Day story. Tell me if you can top this one.
We moved to a new neighborhood, so this is our first time voting at this location. The polling place is a church a few blocks from us.
It’s easiest for me to vote before work. The wife and I trundle off with our two little ones in tow. We see the church and there’s actually a pretty long line – odd for an off year. Last year at the old polling place there was barely anyone there.
We wait for about 45 minutes, chasing the kids around and trying to keep them from running into the street. We finally get to the front of the line, carry our stroller down the steps, and I go inside to vote. The woman at the little table asks for my ID, which puzzles me because I didn’t think ID was required here, but anyway I have it so I just give it to her. She hands me a piece of paper to fill out my name and address. I write my name and then I notice at the top of the page where it says something like “I hereby certify that I am eligible for these benefits.”
Yep, sure enough, that was the line for the soup kitchen. The polling place was another half-block down the street, and naturally there was no one at all in line. Oops.
Ohio Mom
No on 1, 2, and 3, of course, and yes for a pair of social-service levies, but then I was forced to vote for two very conservative school board members’ re-elections to keep a tea-bagger from getting a toehold on the school board. That was hard.
Mino
@geg6: Gah! Wish I could. I stopped smoking in February. It ain’t no fun.
Ruckus
@Martin:
I already voted by mail but we have what must be a teapartier running for city council. His lawn signs say one one side “Take back city government” The opposite side says “Eliminate illegal alien gangs”. As this is a huge non-existent problem here (or anywhere) I’m going with asshole.
FlipYrWhig
@Steve: Truly a fable for our times.
rikryah
COME ON OHIO, MISSISSIPPI AND MAINE…COME THROUGH
Maude
There was a question about extending the ability to gamble. I voted no. The casinos aren’t wonderful in Atlantic City and it hasn’t helped the residents there. NJ can do without this.
Maude
I’m in moderation.
MomSense
I just spent my lunch break sitting in my car making phone calls for Yes on 1 here in Maine. I’m so nervous I could throw up!
I have heard more stories from voters about how they didn’t know they had to change their registration even though they only moved from one street to another in the same town–a town with only one polling place! If it hadn’t been for same day registration they wouldn’t have been able to vote.
@Ruckus
There is evidently some mailer going around here about “3,000 illegals stealing our elections” if we keep same – day voter registration. I am trying to explain that when we register, we provide our drivers license, or social security card and proof of address but if people are susceptible to irrational fear there is no persuading them.
Steve
@Maude: I voted yes on the sports betting thing, although it’s not going to happen any time soon no matter what the outcome. My reasoning is that people already can and will do it on the Internet if they want to, and we might as well regulate it and tax it at this point.
My wife knew I was going to vote yes. On the way out of the polling place, I asked her, “You voted no on the sports betting thing, didn’t you?” “Yep.” Oh well!
Mnemosyne
@Martin:
@ABL:
I was actually starting to get used to voting quarterly and getting endless rounds of robocalls and election flyers, and now … nothin’. Is it because we elected Jerry Brown? Or because we’re so fucked that no proposition could possibly save us now?
zzyzx
@Geoduck: I voted against the Eyman proposal (destroying Light Rail across Lake Washington disguised as something else) but yes on the liquor one as I see no need for there to be a state monopoly on that.
Mino
@MomSense: Good on you. I really hope Maine can turn back her idiots.
And the MSM is paying more attention to the issue as DEMS finally start talking aboout it. Morons.
Perhaps it will filter out. And, perhaps peeps will want to vote if they think the man doesn’t want them to.
Mino
And hot off the presses, Texas is going to be redistricted by federal judges! Should give Dems 3 extra reps instead of none.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/court-will-draw-texas-map-in-boon-to-democrats/2011/11/08/gIQAjb1k1M_blog.html?wprss=the-fix
Kewalo
I’m glad to see that someone is voting yes on the liquor issue here in WA. I’m really curious why someone would vote no. IMO the state should not be in the liquor business. I lived in Hi when they underwent the change from state liquor stores to privately owned and we were all much better off when the change came. For the average consumer prices went way down and the state made a lot of money from fees and fines, without the headaches of actually running the business.
I know the ads went after Costco but that’s OK with me. I’m just glad someone supported it. Because the state should not have a monopoly on anything, much less booze.